The head coach of Dynamo Kyiv spoke to the media following the dramatic match in Kryvyi Rih.
– Good afternoon. Today marks 40 years since the Chernobyl disaster. On this day we honor the memory of those who died and the people who saved our country from that catastrophe.
– What did you say to your players at halftime after which the team scored five goals in the second half?
– I said that we had control of the game but we were poorly prepared for losing the ball. The weather in the first half seemed to favor us but goals we conceded were the result of being unprepared after turnovers when the opponent launched quick attacks. Also it was Mendoza’s day – he had four shots and all went in. The wind played a role too: he struck from about 30 meters and the wind made the ball dip in a way that our goalkeeper couldn’t handle, even though it looked like it was going straight at him.
At halftime we emphasized that the match was not lost, that we had the initiative, and we just needed to score our chances and believe in ourselves and in the team. That’s exactly what happened.
– Is this the craziest match in your coaching career so far?
– Yes, although I had a similar match at U19 level when we were losing 0:3 in Poltava after the first half without any chances but eventually won 4:3.
Today I told the players that on the pitch there was a team that worked for each other, covered for mistakes and believed in victory.
– How would you comment on your team’s defensive performance in the first half?
– As I said, we weren’t prepared for losing the ball. You saw how we played on second balls. After those situations the opposing team transitioned well while our players weren’t ready for the loss of possession. Also Mendoza was outstanding today. We weren’t ready to adjust when he moved into central areas. We needed to cover better and not allow him to shoot. Instead we sat too deep. At halftime we emphasized that we needed to shift into the zone more, and the central defender had to provide cover – but Zakharchenko wasn’t doing that. We corrected these issues before the second half.
– Credit should be given to Andriy Mykolayovych…
– We saw that we were lacking a bit of quality, although we created many chances. Vitalii Buialskii and Andriy Mykolayovych Yarmolenko added that quality and scored goals. That’s experience. Today they worked for the team and we secured the win thanks to their goals.
